Cursing under his breath, Grant hopped off her much more quickly than she’d expect a man of his size. “Sorry. Here.” He held out his hand for her to take.
Accepting the help, Brynnon was pulled gently to her feet. Grant went over and studied the fallen scaffolding closely. When he was finished, he turned back to her.
With his hands resting on his hips, he asked, “You sure you’re okay?”
“I-I think so.” She nodded, but looked down at herself just to be sure. Her right arm was a little sore, but other than that, she was fine. “Yeah. I-I’m good.”
She glanced over his shoulder toward the massive pile of metal and broken wood. A shiver ran down her spine, knowing how much worse it could’ve been.
“Are you?” When Brynnon brought her eyes back to his, the hard expression on his face damn near caused her to recoil.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he hissed through his teeth. “You could’ve been killed.”
Great. Her valiant protector was back in pissed-off bodyguard mode.Just when I thought he was softening up to me a little.
“Uh, I was thinking that the window up there needed to be closed.”
A muscle beneath his dark scruff bulged as he clenched his handsome jaw together. “What if you’d been alone?”
She thought about all the times she had worked on the scaffolding with no one else around but decided that was definitely not something she intended to share with Grumpy McGrumperson. Instead, she gave him another truth.
“I always keep my phone in my pocket while I’m working.” From the fire shooting from his eyes, that was not the right answer.
“And if it breaks or you’re knocked unconscious?”
The same frustration she felt last night started to seep back in. “Look, Grant. I appreciate your concern, but I’m a big girl. I’ve been doing this sort of thing for years, and that’s the first time anything like this has ever happened.”
Nostrils still flaring, he looked as though he wanted to continue reprimanding her. Instead, he rolled his lips inward before telling her, “From now on, you need something done up there, I’ll do it.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. You have no business being up on that death trap.”
“Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“It has nothing to do with your gender. You’re not going back up there because it’s not safe.”
“Says the Navy SEAL who’s probably gone into some of the world’s most dangerous places.”
“That was my job.”
“And this is mine!” A few seconds passed before Brynnon broke the uncomfortable silence. “Look, I told you last night. I don’t take orders from you.”
“Wrong.” His gray eyes pinned her down. “You agreed to when it came to your safety.
“From a perceived threat against myfather, which has nothing to do with what just happened. The things I have to do for my job or to get this place ready do not concern you.”
“My job is to protect you. Which meansanythreat against your safety concerns me.”
They were still staring each other down when Brynnon’s phone rang. Pulling it from her pocket, she couldn’t resist showing him the screen. “Oh, look. It’s not broken.”
With a smart-ass smile, she answered Angie’s call. “Hey, Ang. What’s up?”
“Have you checked your email lately?”
“No, I’ve been...” Brynnon glanced back up at Grant. “Busy.”
“Busy, huh? That hunk of a bodyguard you told me about still hanging around?”
